


Detente

by BastardPrince



Category: Warrior (2011)
Genre: Angst, Brothers, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, MMA, Minor Injuries, Mixed Martial Arts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:28:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25369894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BastardPrince/pseuds/BastardPrince
Summary: Tommy taps.It’s over.---What happens right after the fight.
Relationships: Brendan Conlon & Tommy Conlon
Kudos: 28





	Detente

**Author's Note:**

> This has been lingering in my drafts for a little while, but this movie is so underrated and the fandom could always use some more fics.

Tommy taps. 

It’s over. 

The crowd roars, but Brendan doesn’t hear it, doesn’t get up to bask in the applause. He’s too busy crouching over Tommy. He can’t hear anything except for Tommy’s ragged breathing, wet with tears. Brendan’s fault. 

Frank breaks into his bubble of concentration. Brendan sees his mouth moving, but only catches the end of his sentence. 

“I’ll buy you some time, okay?”

Frank disappears back into the crowd. 

Brendan pulls Tommy off the mat, holding him close. Tommy curls into his chest and presses his face against Brendan’s shoulder. The cameras close in, pushing their lenses Tommy’s face, but Brendan blocks their view with his hand. They don’t get this. The crowd that was just screaming for them to slaughter each other doesn’t get to see Tommy broken and vulnerable. Brendan can at least do this for him. 

Brendan shoulders his way to the edge of the octagon, still holding tight to Tommy and shoving everyone else away. Frank finds him and leads the way, pushing the door open and clearing a way through the crowd. Together they block Tommy from the cameras, Brendan on his right, protecting Tommy’s injured shoulder from the mob of spectators.

They make their way to Tommy’s locker room and shove the door open. Frank closes the door against the military police waiting outside, ignoring their protests. Brendan sits Tommy down on a bench against a bank of lockers and gets him to lay on his uninjured shoulder. Frank throws Tommy’s black hoodie at Brendan and he quickly rolls it up and places it between Tommy’s ribs and right arm, supporting the dislocated shoulder. 

“I’m going to go wait with Tess, okay? We’ll be in your locker room, come find us when you’re done.”

Brendan nods, not taking his eyes off Tommy. He’s pushing Tommy’s sweaty hair out of his face and cradling his bleeding face.

“Look at me Brendan,” Frank says. 

Brendan tears his gaze from Tommy.

“When I leave, the MPs are going to come in, yeah? Are you ready?”

Brendan nods.

Just as Frank predicted, as soon as he cracks the door open, three uniformed officers are pushing their way in, surrounding Tommy and pulling Brendan away from him.

“Stop!” Brendan yells over the commotion, yanking against the officer holding him back. “Stop, he needs a doctor!”

The other two MPs ignore him, pulling Tommy up so he’s sitting upright and start reciting his charges. 

Brendan goes to the fourth officer by the door, who seems to be supervising the process.

“C’mon, you’ve waited this long. Look at him. He’s not going anywhere.”

Brendan is right. Tommy’s head is hanging low between his shoulders, one eyebrow split and bleeding down the side of his face. His dislocated shoulder juts out awkwardly. He’s swaying slightly, even while sitting on the bench.

The MP looks at Brendan and nods sharply. He calls off the others then opens the door and tells a security guard outside the door to get a doctor. 

“We’ll wait outside. You have an hour.”

Brendan goes back over to Tommy and sits down heavily. He leans back against the lockers and closes his eyes. The pain from his injuries starts to filter in, but before he can think about it too much, a harried EMT rushes in with a bag on her hip. 

She kneels in front of Tommy and assesses his injuries. Deciding the shoulder is most pressing, she gently bends Tommy’s elbow to ninety degrees and pulls his forearm so it’s sticking out from his body. Then in two quick movements, she pops the shoulder back in place. Tommy groans, but she keeps working, cleaning and closing his split eyebrow with two butterfly stitches. She grabs an ice pack from her bag and presses it firmly against Tommy’s shoulder. 

Finished with Tommy, she looks at Brendan. 

“Did you want me to take care of your face, too?”

Brendan shakes his head. “Nah, I can wait.”

“Alright. I’ll leave this sling with you. Do you know how to put it on?”

“Yeah.” Tommy had enough childhood injuries that Brendan knows his way around all sorts of braces and slings.

The EMT nods, packing up her stuff and before heading out with an appraising glance at Brendan.

“Here’s some ice for your face. Make sure you get checked for a concussion; you took quite a beating.”

When she’s gone, Brendan pushes Tommy towards the showers to go get cleaned up. While Tommy’s busy, Brendan holds the ice pack to his face with one hand and digs through Tommy’s duffle bag with the other. He pulls out a pair of jeans and boxers, a gray t-shirt, and a pair of military boots. He sets the pile of clothes and a towel on the bench outside the shower for Tommy to get changed. 

He grabs another t-shirt for himself and puts it on, ignoring how much it hurts to get it over his head. 

Then Brendan pulls two energy drinks, a bottle of water, a banana, and a box of protein bars from Tommy’s bag. At least Pop was making him stick to a decent diet. 

While Tommy gets dressed, Brendan opens one of the energy drinks and proteins bars, inhaling them without tasting anything. 

Once Tommy comes out of the shower, wet hair slicked back from his face, Brendan helps him get the sling around his body, secures the ice back on his injured shoulder, and opens the second energy drink for him. Tommy gulps it down, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth when he’s done. Brendan hands him a protein bar, then the banana, both opened, and watches to make sure Tommy eats both. 

“Call me when you get wherever they take you, okay? We’ll get you sorted out.”

Tommy nods but doesn’t look at Brendan.

“I’m serious, Tom. I’m not abandoning you. Call me.”

“I will.”

Satisfied with the acceptance, Brendan leaves it at that. He checks the clock above the door. 

“We have ten minutes. Is there anything else you need?”

“No.”

“Okay. Then eat another one of these and drink this water.”

Brendan hands Tommy another protein bar. 

While Tommy eats and drinks, at a more reasonable pace this time, Brendan laces up his boots and double knots them.

“I can do it,” Tommy protests.

“I know,” Brendan agrees, but he doesn’t stop what he’s doing. 

When the MPs come back in to get Tommy, Brendan hugs him and whispers in his ear. 

“It’s okay, Tom. I love you. Remember to call me. It’s all going to be okay.”

Brendan pulls back and checks Tommy’s sling. He hands him his black hoodie. 

Tommy stands up and walks over to the MPs. He stands quietly as they read him his rights and doesn’t fight as they lead him away. 

When the door closes behind them, Brendan sits down on the bench and puts his head in his hands. 

After a few moments, he gathers himself and gets ready to leave. He slips on the flip flops Tommy used in the shower, grabs Tommy’s duffle bag, and heads out. Brendan opens another protein bar and chews it as he walks, taking the back hallways back to his own locker room. Frank showed him the way earlier, and now he uses it to avoid the cameras. 

The hallway outside his locker room is teeming with press, security doing their best to keep them at bay. Brendan quickly slips through the door before anyone can talk to him.

Frank and Tess are waiting for him inside, Frank lying on a bench with his eyes closed, Tess pacing circles around the room. As soon as she sees him, Tess runs over and hugs him tight until he winces. Frank throws him a towel, and Brendan extricates himself from Tess’s grip, kissing her on the cheek and heading straight for the showers.

A different EMT is waiting for him when he gets out of the shower in fresh clothes. Brendan sits still as he patches him up, closing his split cheeks and getting him a fresh ice pack for his face. As promised, Brendan lets the EMT check him for concussion symptoms.

As soon as he’s done, the EMT packs up and leaves. 

Frank sits across from Brendan. 

“There’s people who want to talk to you and people you need to talk to. I bought you some time, but you can’t put it off for long.”

Brendan nods. 

“And I want to apologize for before,” Frank continues. “The things I said about Tommy crossed a line. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t. You would have said it about anyone. And you’re right, that’s how you win.”

They bump fists and Tess chimes in.

“Is he okay? Tommy?”

“Yeah I think so. He’s gonna call when he gets wherever he’s going.”

Tess leans against him. “I’m proud of you.”

Someone bangs on the door.

“Well,” Frank says, “That’s our cue. Let’s go face the music.”

He hands Brendan a bottle of water and together they head out into the din of the hallway.


End file.
